


Slip of the Tongue

by veridian



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Lancelot and Vane are definitely dating but the focus isn't on them, Short One Shot, hence the category of gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 06:24:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16613627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veridian/pseuds/veridian
Summary: Arthur accidentally calls Lancelot "Captain Lancey."I tried to come up with a summary that'd make this sound interesting but that's all I've got because that's all I knew I wanted to write.





	Slip of the Tongue

**Author's Note:**

> as always i deeply love "lan-chan" but ended up going with the official localization's "lancey" instead

It’s not often that Lancelot has time to oversee the training grounds, as busy as he is; recently, even Vane has had to temporarily give the reins of Team Chickadee over to one of the other instructors, something that resulted in more than a few tears, most of them from the vice captain himself. As Vane is currently away on business in Lancelot’s place, the least he can do is make time to check in on the trainees - it’s an important part of his duties, though he trusts his men to ensure their training is going well, and it will give him something to write to Vane about until his return.

Lancelot intentionally goes out of his way not to see Team Chickadee first, mulling about with several other groups of trainees. This is more of a precautionary gesture than anything else, as no one has ever seen fit to accuse him of favoritism before, despite his personal history with Vane - they had all agreed more or less unanimously when he floated his name as a potential vice captain, and everyone has been happy with him since that promotion, something that Lancelot’s always taken pride in. But the trainees are still new to this, and he doesn’t want to give them the wrong idea. Despite his remarkable ability to separate his private life and his work, it’s not exactly a secret that he and Vane are close.

“Where to next, sir?” one of the knights accompanying Lancelot asks him.

“Let’s go see Vane’s team,” he says, waving to the trainees. One of them - Henry, he recalls - seems especially excited about it, deliberately locking eyes with him as he waves back.

When the two of them arrive, Arthur and Mordred are sparring while Tornelio patches up a nasty-looking bruise on Cruz’s arm. Their temporary overseer is kneeling over them as well, so Lancelot ignores the other two for now and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Is everything alright here?” he asks.

“Oh…Captain Lancelot, sir!” Tornelio stands to his full height - unimpressive though it is - nearly dropping his bandages in the process. “Um, actually, this bruise is a few days old, from sparring with the vice captain, but Cruz is letting me practice. And Sir Richard is supervising!”

“Oh, that’s right…you have some medical training.”

“Yes, sir. That’s why Vice Captain Vane suggested I keep an eye on this group until he came back. We might make a fine medic out of this one yet,” he says, patting Tornelio on the shoulder. “But if not, the vice captain’s sure to turn him into a fighter just as good as those two!” He gestures at Arthur and Mordred, who only seem to have ramped the fight up in intensity, blind to everything else around them. Lancelot smiles fondly, recalling his own spars with Vane. The two of them surely must have had the same steely determination in their spines, the fire in their eyes…

Maybe he’ll ask Vane for a match when he gets back.

That can wait for now, though; he raises a hand and calls their names. “Arthur! Mordred!”

The two of them immediately stop, heads turning in unison. Mordred’s eyes widen and he immediately sheathes his sword. Arthur does the same, though somewhat less gracefully than his best friend. “Captain Lancelot,” the erune trainee says, “if we’d known you were coming, we’d have put something a little more impressive together for you.”

“That’s precisely why I didn’t announce my visit. I wanted to see how you’re all training every day.”

Mordred’s ears twitch, a glimmer of admiration in his eyes. “You really do put thought into everything you do, don’t you, Captain Lancelot! See, Arthur, you need to be more like that.”

“Yeah, well,” grouses Arthur, “you’re just lucky he interrupted before I beat you in that duel.”

“Now’s not the time, boys,” Richard chides from over Lancelot’s shoulder.

“It’s fine,” Lancelot says, smiling despite himself. “Besides, it did seem to me that Arthur had the upper hand. Mordred, your form is superb, but you’re holding back because you don’t want to hurt him, right?”

“What?!” Mordred flushes bright red, ears pressed flat against his head. “N-No I’m not!”

“Come on, Mordred! We agreed we’d go all-out this time!” Arthur rattles his sword in its scabbard. “We’re picking this up where we left off once the captain is gone!”

Lancelot laughs, crossing his arms. “No, if you don’t mind, I’d like to see the two of you pick this up right now. I’m interested in seeing how evenly you’re matched.”

Arthur and Mordred give each other nervous glances, but they both nod. “Yes, Captain,” Mordred says.

“Sure thing, Captain Lancey!” Arthur chirps, seemingly unaware as both Mordred and Lancelot turn to stare at him. He looks from his friend to his captain, confused, before his eyes widen in alarm. “Oh, no. Did I say that?”

“You said it,” Mordred says morosely.

“It’s not my fault!” Arthur says, raising his hands defensively. “It’s just, Vice Captain Vane, he always, uh, I mean, _sometimes_ he _might_ call you - ”

“He still calls me Lancey even with his trainees…” Lancelot sighs, trying to look stern but failing miserably; he can feel himself smiling. It’s not exactly a surprise, seeing as Vane’s never quite been able to stop defaulting to that nickname, even when he does his best not to use it. There had been a time once when it had been bothersome enough for him to comment on, to ask Vane to try a little harder to be more formal, but as time passed and no one took him any less seriously for it - no one took either of them less seriously for it, really - Lancelot had eventually stopped being bothered altogether.

But that’s still a privilege that only Vane is allowed, so he sighs. “Arthur, please be more careful in the future.”

“I…” Arthur looks like he wants to crawl into a hole and die. “I will, sir.”

“And…” Lancelot uncrosses his arms, a devilish smile flickering across his face for half a second. “If you or anyone else in this team comes up with a nickname of your own to use on him, you have my permission as captain to do so. Liberally. Until further notice.”

“Something tells me this isn’t the kind of special privilege Henry had in mind when he wanted to be on Vice Captain Vane’s team,” Mordred mutters.

“Right? It’s even better!” Arthur says. “We should start brainstorming at dinner tonight! Ooh, how about the winner of our duel gets to decide what it is?!”

“I don’t care about that!”

“But I do, so look out, Mordred!” Arthur draws his sword, dropping into a fighting stance.

Mordred clicks his tongue as he does the same. “You can’t just decide on the terms of victory without me!”

“I already did! En garde!”

The duel ends with Mordred flat on the ground, Arthur grinning triumphantly as he wheezes for breath. The questionability of his motives aside, he’s a brilliant fighter - as is Mordred, who Lancelot had been certain would win until the last possible second.

He can hear Arthur still crowing about his victory as he leaves to observe another team.

“Is Vice Captain Vane going to be living in the doghouse when he gets back?” one of the knights accompanying him asks.

“What? Of course not. Needless to say, I’m not pleased with the thought of one of the trainees calling me that, but…” Lancelot sighs. “I’d rather have knights with loose tongues and their hearts in the right place than the inverse. For instance, I believe I’ve asked you not to talk about my and Vane’s personal life while we’re working.”

“Oh.” The knight still has his helmet on, so Lancelot can’t see the embarrassment on his face, but even the way his voice echoes in the helmet seems humiliated. “F-Forgive me, sir.”

“Already done.” Lancelot pauses, eyebrows furrowed. “Let’s visit again tomorrow.”

“Seeing if the trainers and their charges take your advice today and work it into tomorrow’s routine?” asks the other knight.

“What? Oh. Yes.” That’s definitely the reason.

He’s not about to admit that he just wants to hear the nickname ideas that Arthur comes up with.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter at @duobrando for all your gbf shitposting needs but especially if you want tired bofa jokes


End file.
